Fort Lee Police charge trio with identity theft

FORT LEE — A Fort Lee police officer allegedly caught three New Yorkers with fraudulent gift cards and illegally bought iPhones on March 14, arresting the trio on identity and credit card theft, forgery and other charges.

Detective Timothy Cullen stopped 21-year-old Joley Aristhee of Queens, 24-year-old Kianne Clarke of Rosedale and 23-year-old Kristine Lewis of Rosedale after they sped by him in a rented 2014 Chrysler 300 on Route 1 North, according to police.

A consented search of the car led to the discovery of 52 gift cards with stolen credit card numbers on the magnetic strip and 43 new iPhones, valued at more than $27,000, that had been allegedly purchased with the fraudulent cards at various malls in Pennsylvania. Police also allegedly seized $3,800 in cash during the arrest.

Aristhee, Clarke and Lewis are all facing charges of identity theft, credit card theft, forgery and receiving stolen property. Aristhee has also been charged with hindering apprehension after allegedly discarding an additional eight fraudulent credit cards as he was being transported in a police car for processing. He is being held at Bergen County Jail in lieu of his $15,000 bail.

Lewis and Clarke were released after posting 10 percent of their $5,000 and $10,000 bails, respectively. Fort Lee detectives are working with Pennsylvania law enforcement on the case, said police.

"The Fort Lee Police Department will continue to investigate identity thefts in an effort to minimize the damage inflicted upon ID theft victims," said Police Chief Keith Bendul in a statement. "Everyone should take steps to protect personal information from thieves and periodically review their credit report."